Land Power

Land Power looks at who owns the land and why that matters so much. Michael Albertus argues that land ownership shapes whether a society is equal or unequal, whether it develops or declines, and whether it protects or sacrifices its environment. The book traces large shifts in who held land, from European colonial settlement beginning in the 1500s to Soviet and Maoist collectivization and the handing of large estates to family farmers. It argues that these choices still shape the world today.

Why You Should Read?

• Understand why the book argues that land ownership decides whether a society becomes equal or unequal.
• Explore cases such as cooperatives in North Africa, the displacement of Native Americans, and inheritance laws in post-partition India.
• Learn how the book links choices about who owns land to poverty, sexism, racism and the climate crisis.
• Follow the book's global account of how European colonial powers and new nation-states moved indigenous lands into settlers' hands.